Z33 House for Contemporary Art in Hasselt, Belgium, is (as you might have noticed) one of my favourite art centers in Europe. There are many reasons for that. The main one is that Z33 is one of the very few cultural spaces proposing a programme where art meets design meets science meets contemporary issues. Then there is the way they make bloggers’ life so easy by making available online their exhibition guides as well as impeccable photo sets documenting their activities. For free! Art lovers who might not be able to travel to Hasselt to see their shows are probably as grateful as i am for the gesture.

So i was as flattered as i was surprised when they got in touch and asked me if i’d like to curate the catalogue of their 2011 activities. 2011 was a vintage year at Z33. They opened a show about manipulated nature, had some spectacular tape and suspended nets events, hosted a solo show of theater genius Kris Verdonck and investigated the the firm grip that fear has on contemporary society.

I teamed up with young and talented photographer Kristof Vrancken. Each of us was given half a book to communicate our experience of the art center. The result is called Logbook Z33.

Opening night of Kris Verdonck – EXHIBITION #1. Credits: EXOTE (2011), by Kris Verdonck

Some of the texts in the book have been published on my blog last year and almost as many were written only for the paper publication. The new texts consist of essays, studio visits and interviews with artists such as Charlotte Jarvis, Gair Dunlop, Marcia Nolte, De Geuzen, etc.

I’m still amazed at how brave Z33 have been, they allowed me to select the artists and designers i wanted to talk to, let me decide what my essays would be about and were remarkably patient with my notoriously laid-back attitude towards deadlines.

I’m quite looking forward to visiting/blogging their ongoing show: Mind the System, Find the Gap.